


Snow Globes

by lucky2400



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, One Shot, Redcrackle, Redcrackle secret santa 2020, Secret Santa, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucky2400/pseuds/lucky2400
Summary: This is a secret Santa for Juice! Hope you like it!Spoiler notice! This takes place after season 3 so if you haven’t watched it yet, please do or it might spoil some things for you.
Relationships: Gray | Crackle/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 7
Kudos: 95





	Snow Globes

The makeshift market was glowing against dusks fading light, and plenty of people walked from stall to stall. Kids cried with joy and dragged their parents and friends around. The snow was falling lightly as people stopped to take pictures around the city’s festive square. There was laughter in the air, hovering above the carolers' song.

Each stall had its own unique products, despite some overlap in general Christmas items. You could find multiple stalls with ornaments and snow globes, but none quite the same as the others. There was something magical about this particular night. It’s because this wasn’t just a Christmas market, oh no. It was also a charity art show. Famous artists and amateurs alike met up for the first Christmas charity art market, either giving a gift for the large auction or setting up their own stall and selling holiday gifts.

“Any movement on their end?” Carmen asked as she weaved through the crowds. The market wasn’t as well lit as it could’ve been, and while the low lighting was a great atmosphere for the event, it was also good for V.I.L.E. operatives. She could easily stay out of their gaze, but they also avoided hers. Blending in here was easy, throw on a dark winter coat, hat, and scarf and it’ll be hard to pick you out in the crowd.

“I’m not recognizing anyone from up here.” Ivy and Zack said in unison from their position on the rooftops. Though, their vantage point was more for looking at the auction site. The large town square had a giant tree in the middle, lit up with plenty of lights, separating most of the general market from the rows of chairs that would soon host the auction guests. There was more security on the auction site’s side as well, not that they’d be any match against V.I.L.E.

“We know that V.I.L.E. is after something here. Any word on if it’s a particular piece or possibly the money they’re after?” Carmen asked Player and Shadowsan.

“I know Countess Cleo is an art fan… But they’ve robbed charity events for the money before,” Player said, confirming that he didn’t know either.

“I’m fairly certain Countess Cleo was fond of one of the artists who donated work. Though without much else to go on, it’s a very sloppy operation we’ve got going on.” Carmen said, shortly before Zack gasped in surprise.

“I wanna tell her! Ooof” Zack said, getting elbowed by his sister.

“Carm! A.C.M.E. has been spotted. And there’s someone else with them. A certain gent you’re very familiar with.” Ivy said, and Zack couldn’t hide his snickers from the open coms.

“Where are they?” 

“About 50 feet in front of ya.”

Stopping at the nearest stall, trying desperately to hide her face from the agents who’d recognize her, she pretended to look at the different snowglobes. There was one in particular that actually caught her eye, in the center of it two parents huddled around a little girl dressed in red. It was so pretty she couldn’t take her eyes off it. Her mistake.

“Carmen Sandiego.” An Australian accent drawled, and when she looked up she saw none other than Gray. He was dressed in a simple winter coat and blue hat. Inspector Devineaux seemed preoccupied and Gray made no movements to update him on the situation. He flashed her a killer smile, and Carmen couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Gray-- Graham. Right. Do I need to disappear before Devineaux sees?” She asked, paying the worker for the snow globe. It was small enough that she could carry it in one hand, but only by balancing it in the middle of her palm. She shook it up to watch the snow fall around the girl in red.

“I’m not gonna tell on you. They, A.C.M.E., told me a lot of things about V.I.L.E. and you.” He said, following Carmen to another stand, farther from the inspector. Devineaux didn’t seem to notice them, as he was busy frantically searching nearby stalls, heading in the opposite direction. 

“And do you believe them? Do you remember anything?” She asked, worried about his memories. He wouldn’t have a good time if his memories came flooding back all at once.

“I trust you, and the experiences we’ve had together. If I’m right, we were stopping V.I.L.E. that day in New Zealand? It doesn’t make sense that you’re a criminal if you’re stopping the real ones.” They ended up at a market selling all sorts of winter clothing. There was one scarf that stood out, a long red and blue striped one. She bought it and wrapped it around his neck. He took the opportunity to wrap it around her’s as well, pulling Carmen in closer.

“Isn’t that romantic,” Carmen hear Zack say over the comms. She also heard a punch land and his soft ‘oof’ following.

“You shouldn’t be watching their date! I told you to watch the auction site!” Ivy’s response echoed in Carmen’s ear.

“How is it fair that you get to snoop on their date while I’m forced to actually get work done?” Zack said, obviously winded.

“I am technically interfering with police investigations, but that’s because I know I can do this. I need to do this, to make up for everything else I’ve done. You shouldn’t be involved in this.” She said, and he grabbed her hands, the snowglobe resting nicely in the middle of them both.

“I can handle myself. And after all that we’ve been through, I know better than to really worry about you. I know you can take care of yourself. So go get ‘em while I deal with Devineaux.” He said, dropping her hands.

“Wait! Could you hold onto this for me? I don’t want to lose it while I’m working.” She held out the snowglobe. 

“For a fee.” He smirked as he grabbed the globe.

“I’ll make it worth your while.” She said before she disappeared into the shadows.

Graham walked around for a while with Devineaux before there was a big commotion at the auction site. Apparently, somebody had broken in, and there were signs of a fight, though surprisingly nothing had been stolen. It was as if somebody stopped the burglars from stealing before security had known about it. Graham smiled into the snow globe as they wrapped everything up and went back to their hotel.

The director scolded him and Devineaux for not catching any operatives, V.I.L.E. or Red. Though, since nothing was stolen, they were let off pretty easily. Devineaux seemed hellbent on figuring out some sort of lead, so he went off to do some more investigations, while Graham retired to his room. He ordered some food and set the snow globe on a table.

It was a pretty snow globe, and he could see why Carmen might like it. The little girl in the center was dressed in red. He was beginning to like red more and more. Of course, that had nothing to do with the one dragging his heart through the wringer. A sudden knock on the door broke his train of thought. 

“Room service.” A voice called. After he got his food, the employee left quickly. He set the hot chocolate down next to the snow globe. Before he could dig into his food, his phone started buzzing.

“Graham, I’m currently in pursuit of Carmen Sandiego! She’s heading to the hotel!” Devineaux called, as car horns honked loudly near him. Graham rushed out of the room to try and do something about the situation. He didn’t want Carmen to get caught, but he also didn’t want to be caught helping her. The wait for the elevator was excruciating. He considered running down the stairs but didn’t want to risk it, running down so many flights.

“Are you still on our floor? She just entered a window on the 8th floor!” At that, Graham spun around and ran back to his room. No way she’d do so much just for the snow globe, right? As soon as he got back into the room he saw a flash of red leaving the window. Once he got there he saw her running off into the distance. 

“Devineaux, I lost her. Are you still on her tail?” He asked, and his A.C.M.E. partner let out what he assumed were French curses.

“Did she take anything?” He asked, and Graham looked at where the snow globe had been sitting before he left. The breeze from the window blew a small slip of paper across the table. There was also a suspicious red lipstick stain on his cup of hot chocolate.

“No, nothing of mine is missing,” Graham said, picking up the small slip of paper that contained a single phone number and the words for emergencies only.

“Do you think it was smart of you to give him that phone number?” Player asked.

“No, but I trust him, and if anything I hope that’ll help keep him safe. Besides, how else is he going to ask me out on another date?”


End file.
